It was an amazing adventure from start to finish, with incredible performances by rock legends Mike Peters (The Alarm), Cy Curnin & Jamie West-Oram (The Fixx), Slim Jim Phantom (Stray Cats), Glenn Tilbrook (Squeeze), and Nick Harper. As if the music wasn't enough, we also were rasing money for the Bhaktapur Cancer Center in Bhaktapur (the old city of the Kathmandu Valley). The nearly $500,000 raised through the trek bought the Center essential equipment that will saves many lives in Nepal.

While I was capturing still images during the trip, Alex Coletti and his video team of Damien Drake and Stash Slionski put together a great film of the entire adventure which aired recently on VH1. If you missed it, have no fear...it's also available on DVD through the Love Hope Strength store.

Watching it the other day, I was impressed by how well Alex and his team put together such a huge amount of material, packaged it into a viewable timeframe, and kept it emotional, poignant, and to the point. From the stunning scenery of the Khumbu to emotional performances (like that of Nick Harper playing Imaginary Friend - see video below) to the real life stories and struggles of cancer patients in Nepal, the Everest Rocks DVD is great, and the funds from it will help the LHS Foundation help more people around the world in their fight against cancer.

Listen to Nick Harper playing the emotional ballad Imaginary Friend and explaining the song below, and then go buy the DVD!

November 14, 2007

I've been busy working on the 5,221 images I created during the Everest Rocks! trek to Everest Basecamp last month. It was a remarkable trip with some great people...and we succeeded in raising not only huge awareness of the issues facing cancer patients in Nepal, but also nearly $500,000 to turn the Bhaktapur Cancer Hospital into a world-class cancer treatment center!

Some people may wonder why it is important to change this hospital when there is high-quality cancer care available over the Nepali border in India and a few hours away in Thailand?

The reason is simple: Currently in Nepal, wealthy cancer patients head overseas for their treatment - or at least to India - because high quality cancer care is unavailable in Nepal. With them goes their money, and the level of treatment in Nepal - a chronically poor and underdeveloped nation - remains low.

By turning the Bhaktapur Cancer Hospital into a world-class cancer care center, these same wealthy and middle-class Nepalis can be convinced to get their treatment in Nepal. Their money will stay there, and the payment they make can be used to help subsidize treatment for low income Nepalis who would - simply put - die of their disease otherwise.

Through the passion and vision of Love Hope Strength Foundation founders Mike Peters and James Chippendale, and the efforts of dedicated doctors like Dr. Bharal, a difference is being made in Nepal that can hopefully be replicated many times throughout the world through future efforts.

As the Tibetan proverb says: Don't take lightly small good deeds thinking they can hardly help. For drops of water, one by one, in time will fill a giant pond.

We all can make a difference...if we just try.

The following is a video I put together of some of the select images from the Everest Rocks! trek. Enjoy, and be sure to visit www.everestrocks.com for more information and to help...today! (NOTE: You can also view this video on YouTube, or, alternately, see the much-better, high-resolution version on the PhotoDex website. You'll have to download and install a small control, but it's worth it!)

October 22, 2007

Due to power issues, I was not able to send this update from several days ago...Enjoy it, and I'll write more in a moment... ___________________________________________________

As I sit this morning watching the soft light of dawn splash elegantly on the jagged ridges of Kwangde, Numbur, Thamserku, and Kusum Kangguru, I am easily reminded of why I come back to this mountain paradise again and again: Simply put, spending time in the high mountains reduces life to the bare essentials. The superfluous elements which we often find ourselves concerned with and stressed out about are revealed for just what they are: superfluous elements. In the mountains, life becomes simple: take a breath, take a step, eat, drink, breathe, and enjoy the company of good friends - some new, some old. And, most importantly, to live in the moment, for as the adage goes, life is short.

Being on this trip with cancer survivors, caregivers, and concerned people has only served to bring that point home for me. Life is indeed short. At times it can be harsh. It can hurt. It'll make us cry. But, it is all we have, so we must not forget to live it, to embrace each moment as if it were our last. We must laugh hard and at times cry harder.

This afternoon, Nick Harper delivered a stunning and emotional impromptu performance of a new song he had not shared before, one of remembrance of his mother who passed away from cancer some years back. Our group of 37 plus many other onlookers shared Nick's emotion as he sang on the deck of the Everest View Hotel above Syangboche. Everest was hiding, but no one cared. The moment was fresh, raw, and real...and exactly as it should have been.

The stories of survival and hardship, joy and tragedy we have shared on this trip have underscored the need to embrace life, for tomorrow it could be far different. Our group here knows that truth better than most...and is living it today.

May we all try to live life fully, to embrace each day as if it were our last, to live, love, and laugh with all that we are, for who knows what lays behind the next turn in the trail.

The sun has now rizen above the massive wall of Thamserku, breathing life and heat into the hamlet of Namche. We're off to Tashinga today on our journey upward, so I'll leave you with a few last thoughts from those more eloquent than I am:

Living with the immediacy of death helps you sort out your priorities in life. It helps you to live a less trivial life.
- Sogyal Rinpoche

Look to this day, For it is life, the very life of life. In its brief course lie all the verities and realities of your existence; the bliss of growth, the glory of action, the splendor of beauty. For yesterday is but a dream And tomorrow is only a vision, But today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope. Look well, therefore to this day, such is the salutation of the dawn.
- The Sufi

October 10, 2007

Yesterday was an intense day to say the least. I have spent quite a bit
of time in Nepal over the years, living, working, studying, and
teaching as well as climbing. And, in those times, I have come face to
face with the myriad of misfortunes that befall so many people in this
Himalayan kingdom: leprosy, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, malnutrition,
abuse, and the cumulative effects of extreme poverty.

But, yesterday was the first time I visited cancer wards in Nepal, and it was an eye opener.

On some level, the other ailments mentioned above cause certain angst
and sympathy, making even the hardest of hearts soften, even the
tightest of wallets loosen a bit. But, they are also distant for most
of us. As fortunate members of the relatively affluent West, diseases
like leprosy are distant, are not something we encounter often, if at
all.

But, cancer is different. There are few if any worldwide who have not
felt the effects of cancer in their lives: friend, family, cousin,
uncle, brother, sister, mother. Cancer touches us all, regardless of
our skin color, our religion, or our geographic location. It is, in
many ways, a tragic equalizer, a horrific disease which ties us all
together in some way.

But, of course, it only equalizes in some ways. Even the might of
cancer does not level the economic playing field, nor subsequently the
treatment options.

And this was more than evident as we visited the Kanthi Childrens and
Bhaktapur Cancer Hospitals yesterday in the Valley. Throughout the
pediatric oncology ward at Kanthi, doctors struggled to save young
lives with rudimentary equipment and paltry funds in harrowing
conditions. Likewise, at Bhaktapur, Dr. Bharal works tirelessly to
combat the disease ravaging his many patients, young and old.

As I watched James Chippendale - himself a cancer survivor - visit the
patients, talk to the doctors, and laugh with the children, I could see
his passion and dedication grow along with his understanding of the
magnitude of the problem facing Nepal.

James, Shannon, and Everest Rocks are more committed than ever to help change the face of cancer treatment here in Nepal.

It is an exciting and trying time, but to know that lives will be
changed through our activities here...well, that makes all the
difference.

October 07, 2007

Another journey has begun...and the wonders of modern communication are already at work. I'm sitting on the floor in Bangkok's new, amazing Suvarnabhumi Airport writing in from a fast wireless connection. Amazing.

We'll be in Kathmandu for a few days, enjoying one of my favorite places on earth and getting set up for the Everest Rocks! trek to Everest Basecamp. With an amazing group of passionate people working hard to raise money and awareness for Love Hope Strength and for cancer, it will be quite a trip! And, if you didn't already know, there's quite a rock side to the Everest Rocks! trip...accompanying us along the way will be a host of amazing musicians including: